1997 Dodge Van Front passenger caliper locking up.

Tiny
SEKSAY1
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 DODGE VAN
  • 5.9L
  • V8
  • RWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 140,000 MILES
This problem only occurs during lots of stop and go driving but, after a while the van will start pulling to the right and making a moaning sound. Pulled the wheel off when I got home today and saw the caliper clamped down on the rotor. Going get some brake fluid this evening and bleed the lines in the morning. Any other ideas to what may be causing this? I hope it's not a bad caliper.
Monday, June 2nd, 2014 AT 3:43 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 34,330 POSTS
Bleeding is not the answer. That is done to get air out after a repair, and air causes a low and mushy brake pedal with a failure of the calipers to apply.

The next time this happens, open the bleeder screw on the caliper. If a little fluid spurts out and the caliper releases, it's not the caliper locking up. The fluid is being trapped under pressure and not releasing properly. To double-check, do this again, but this time loosen the steel line at the master cylinder to release the pressure. If that does not work, look at the metal bracket crimped around the rubber flex hose at the right caliper. Often rust builds up inside that crimp and restricts fluid flow. You can force fluid past that restriction with pedal pressure, but it won't release easily until it cools down.

The fix for that is to use a large channel lock pliers to open that crimp up a little.
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Monday, June 2nd, 2014 AT 4:31 PM
Tiny
SEKSAY1
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Now that you've mentioned it, while I had the wheel off earlier, I did release the bleeder screw and a small amount of fluid did come out. I will look into this further tomorrow morning and provide an update. Thank you!
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Monday, June 2nd, 2014 AT 5:27 PM

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